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T O P I C R E V I E W

Robert Pearlman

The Mach 25 patch is awarded to those who fly on the space shuttle, in reference to the highest velocity they achieve during reentry.

Perhaps the best known of the Mach 25 spinoffs is the 100 Days in space patch, which substitutes the space shuttle on the original insignia with the International Space Station.

Now there are at least two others:

Mach 26

Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

As pictured on the flight suits of astronauts Drew Feustel and Scott Altman, the Mach 26 patch was created for the STS-125 crew.

The incremental increase in Mach number is due to the nature of their mission; to service the Hubble Space Telescope, Atlantis' crew flew to an altitude between 300 and 360 miles, about 100 miles above the International Space Station. As such, their reentry velocity on the way back to Earth was greater.

Credit: Tazewell County Museum/Ed Emmons

MAXA 25

Credit: collectSPACE/Ben Cooper

Mike Fincke is the first to sport this patch, which replaces the space shuttle on the original with a Russian Soyuz and substitutes "MAXA" for "Mach."

Fincke, who will earn his Mach 25 patch on Endeavour's STS-134 mission, has twice flown to the International Space Station on Soyuz spacecraft.

Credit to Tim (KSCArtist) and Andrew (Skylon), who also noticed these spinoffs.

Skylon

At the risk of spinning this off into a discussion on re-entry velocities, I have a couple questions/comments.

Was "Mach 26" only achieved by the STS-125 crew, or all crews who worked on Hubble (STS-31 for launching it, and subsequent servicing missions)? I know STS-31 was one of, if not THE highest shuttle mission launched.

I'm now trying to imagine how the "Mach 25" patch would look with a Mercury, Gemini or Apollo. I imagine that at least the later on lunar missions, broke Mach 25 on entry.

benguttery

Did anyone see The Right Stuff? There is no shortage of kidding and one-upsmanship with these fellows. I wouldn't want to get into a Mach measuring contest...

Hart Sastrowardoyo

I was on standby for a zero-G flight; had I flown, I was thinking of getting a "Mach .25" patch made, with a parabolic arc and a 727 substituted for the shuttle.

Tom

Was wondering, if anyone had seen the Soyuz version of the Mach 25 patch?

cycleroadie

quote:Originally posted by Skylon:I imagine that at least the later on lunar missions, broke Mach 25 on entry.

Lunar missions reentry speeds are approximately Mach 32.

p51

Okay, I know it's not exactly NASA but here's my entry into the field, for the next time I attend Space Camp which will be my second time:

Gonzo

At the risk of being smacked, there's a small tidbit that seems to be being overlooked here, from the research I've done on the Mach 25 patch/badge.

Yes the Mercury and Gemini capsules did reenter at much faster speeds than the shuttle (up to mach 32/33 as mentioned earlier). However, this patch/badge is not for pure speed. Rather it is for speed during controlled flight. If that were the case, many prior astronauts would qualify for it as well. But that is not the case.

You have to remember that the Mercury/Gemini capsules (and Apollo too for that matter) had very little control over their flight paths. They did not by any means qualify for controlled flight as the crew did not "fly" them. The shuttles had much more control. So this patch is more of a qualification badge for controlled flight, not pure speed. And hence, the reason that (so far) only shuttle crews have qualified to wear it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that is what I found when researching this patch/badge some time back.

johntosullivan

Does that mean that only shuttle pilots qualify and not mission specialists?

onesmallstep

No, Mission Specialists qualify and wear the Mach 25 patch too as they ride the same shuttle and experience controlled flight as the pilots do.

Hart Sastrowardoyo

When did they come up with an English-language 25 Mach patch Soyuz patch? Shouldn't that be "25 Maxa" or are they now having an English-language version for non-cosmonauts?

Editor's note: Threads merged.

Robert Pearlman

Based on the Shannon Walker photo above, the "Mach 25" Soyuz patch has been in use since at least 2012.

Hart Sastrowardoyo

Taking a closer look at the photo I took of Megan McArthur and Mike Massimino together at Family Day (Udvar-Hazy, 25 Apr.), Massimino has the 25 Mach patch on his jacket while McArthur is wearing the 26 Mach patch.